Fallacies

Flights of Fallacy

Earlier this year I was engaged to research, develop and write a number of subjects for a proposed Bachelor degree course for vocational teachers. One of the subjects concerned values and ethics as it would apply to the teachers concerned. I must admit, I smiled quietly (undetected) at the initial meeting where the guidance given was one broad sentence and no recommended reference material. Now, I thought, here is a challenge. However, my mind wandered back to a subject I had studied at university some twenty years ago, “Ethics and Educational Administrators”, one of the first of such subjects to be offered in Australia at the time. I’m pleased to say that a good draft subject and assessment outline eventuated for the project I had been engaged for. (However, I withdrew from the project part way through due to the attempted imposition of unethical contractual changes. This was an ironic situation given the subject matter I was writing on. That is another story.)

In researching and developing suitable subject content, I remembered the lecturers had introduced the subject by considering the work of Jeremy Benthem, 1748-1832, who once described his aim as wanting to become the “Newton of Legislation”. He published some 10 million words and produced the same amount in unpublished words. Through the convenience of the Web, I tracked down a biography of Benthem which included selections from his writings for use in part of the subject content that I was to write. “The Book of Fallacies” was the work that had particularly remained filed away in my brain. The two lecturers must have done a good job, I thought.

Bentham aimed to show up the ways made use of by political reactionaries when they lack reasonable or valid arguments to present against a measure they did not agree with. The forms of argument used to, knowingly or unknowingly, justify an erroneous position are called fallacies, hence, the terminology in use “fallacies of argument”. I distinctly remember thinking at the time I heard the lecturer’s introduction, “I’m sure that the ways of arguing described will be evident as being put to use in much wider circles than political reactionaries!”

What follows is not a complete description or analysis of fallacies of argument, but I suspect that you will read and listen more closely to persuasive arguments put to you in the workplace and elsewhere after reading them. Keep in mind though, that persuasive devices are a useful supplement in a number of circumstances. The main problem is when they are are used in isolation of more in-depth reasoning.

Fallacies of Authority	false experts who do not/can not know
Fallacies of Force	others in power agree, it must be right
Fallacies of Ignorance	no evidence it’s false, so must be true
Fallacies of Pity	judgement based solely on emotions
Fallacies of Tradition	we’ve always done it this way
Fallacies of Extremes	‘black and white’ choice only
Fallacies of False Cause	weak assumptions linked to cause & effect
Fallacies of Faulty Analogy	false similarities lead to misinformation
Fallacies of Faulty Generalisation	based on insufficient information
Fallacies of Hasty Generalisation	broad conclusion from a one case
Fallacies of Personal Attack	derision of the person not the message
Fallacies of Another Wrong	avoids the point, highlights misdeed
Fallacies of Prejudging	emotional, prejudicial language
Fallacies of Danger	fear and alarm suppresses open discussion
Fallacies of Delay	artful diversion and procrastination
Fallacies of Confusion	ague generalities, sham distinctions

All fallacies can be insidious, however, some are particularly damaging and the speaker or writer rarely makes them unknowingly. Commonly found in political arguments, these insidious fallacies also find their way quite easily into management and organisational speeches and documents.

Next time you are to provide an argument or are in the midst of one, consider the following:

These questions will help locate the strengths of your argument and where it needs more work thereby avoiding alienating yourself through "flights of fallacy".


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